Editor's Note: The fifth installment in our review of the Governors' inaugural addresses, state of the state addresses, and budget messages for 2001. The first four articles in the series were over the past four weeks. Those issues of the SSTI Weekly Digest and all other previous editions are available on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2001/headlines01.htm
With President Bush announcing the creation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, some analysts and practitioners are pondering the implications for economic local and state development efforts.
Do faith-based organizations have a role in ED?
There is so much happening in state and local tech-based economic development across the country that we’re adding a new Digest feature: the Regional Roundup. Our goal is to provide 1-2 sentence coverage of news stories, reports and resources demonstrating the variety of activities underway to build a stronger tech-based economy. Of course, whenever possible, we’ll include a link or contact for more information.
It is widely argued in the tech-based economic development community that New Economy businesses, specifically computers and information technology, account for the tremendous economic growth of the last half of the 1990s. But does the data support this?
Many tech-based economic development programs recognize the importance of having seed and venture capital accessible to their start up tech firms and entrepreneurs. Some practitioners, though, see a challenge in encouraging equity investment in more conservative, risk adverse regions and localities. The dot-com “correction” of last year probably did not help.
Addressing the Digital Divide, workforce development, and technology deployment in education are among the highest priorities of the nation’s mayors, according to Priorities for the New American City, the 2001 action agenda of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
With as much emphasis on accessing and applying technology as on creating it, the final report of the Arizona Partnership for the New Economy (APNE) outlines several recommendations to improve Arizona’s position and performance in a tech-based economy.
Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment of excerpts from recent speeches and budget proposals demonstrating the priority governors are placing on tech-based economic development and math & science education.
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) seeks nominations for the second annual Award for Excellence in Economic Development. EDA established this award to recognize outstanding economic development activities of national importance.
NIST has opened the fiscal year 2001 competitions for funding under 13 different research grant programs: Precision Measurement Grants; the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (known as SURF) in six NIST laboratories (Building and Fire Research, Chemical Science and Technology, Information Technology, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics); the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Grants Program; the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory Grants Program; the Fir
The New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is recruiting a technology transfer and commercialization project manager with a proven track record in related disciplines from the private and/or public sector.
The South Carolina Technology Alliance calls it the most significant victory for South Carolina's research universities and tech entrepreneurs in the last 50 years. An idle exaggeration? Probably not.
With the recent passage of much economic development legislation in South Dakota, Gov. Mike Rounds' 2010 Initiative would seem to be moving along as planned. The 2010 Initiative, an economic stimulus plan introduced last fall, outlines a series of goals for growth in South Dakota by the year 2010 (see the Oct. 31, 2003, issue of the Digest).
The Indiana General Assembly recently passed legislation that would make permanent a 10 percent research and development (R&D) tax credit, if signed by Gov. Joe Kernan.
The creation and subsidization of CAPCOs, certified capital corporations intended to encourage venture capital (VC) investment, is one of the more controversial policies some states have adopted to encourage the growth of tech-based economies. With substantial revisions to Colorado's short CAPCO experiment this month, questions are raised once again for other states that either have passed or are considering various approaches to increasing the availability of risk capital for new tech firms.
Legislators in Utah have passed a constitutional amendment that, with approval by voters, would allow the state's universities to take ownership in private businesses in exchange for intellectual property. The proposed amendment cleared the Utah State Legislature with relative ease, despite some concerns it will thwart the incentive of researchers wanting to commercialize their results.
With the goal of encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative research, the Research Business Models Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has issued a list of initiatives to improve management of academic research grants made by various agencies of the federal government. The recommendations are also expected to result in greater consistency across agencies in award policies and reporting requirements.
With contributions of nearly $64 billion annually to the gross state product, manufacturing remains the largest of all industry sectors in Pennsylvania, according to a new report sponsored by the Team Pennsylvania Foundation. Data released by the nonprofit public-private partnership documents the role of manufacturing in Pennsylvania and analyzes the forces shaping the future of the industry.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) announces the creation of the Innovation Systems Division and a unique economic development initiative, the John Adams Innovation Institute, a vehicle for the state to make strategic investments in its knowledge economy.
Science policy and tech-based economic development have taken center stage in Idaho with last week’s release of the Idaho Science and Technology Strategy and the supporting new initiatives included in Governor Dirk Kempthorne’s recent budget message.
Editor's Note: The third installment of SSTI's look at recent speeches and budget proposals to demonstrate the priority governors are placing on tech-based economic development and math & science education.
Georgia
Governor Roy Barnes, FY2002 Budget Address, January 11, 2001
– new and increased funding
With his past efforts to strengthen the state’s position in the tech-based economy, new Texas Governor Rick Perry’s budget priorities — $251 million in new spending for college scholarships and math & science programs — should come as no surprise.
An initiative to provide computer training to local teenagers to help jumpstart their information technology careers was launched earlier this month in Minneapolis. The Community IT Learning Center is the result of a partnership involving a North Minneapolis-based youth development organization, two local technology training companies, and Microsoft.
A new resource for tech-based businesses in rural Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and West Virginia was launched last week. The Appalachian Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative (AREI) is expanding its efforts to support growth of a technology-based entrepreneurial economy in Appalachia Ohio and neighboring states through a new website, http://www.bizfirststop.com
The Maine Science and Technology Foundation has launched http://www.mainescience.org -- a single website clearinghouse for businesses, researchers, educators, students and the public looking for information on science and technology in Maine. Under the headings of Quest, Brainpower, Happenings, and Commerce, the site: